WICHITA, Kansas – Bombardier says it is laying off about 1,700 employees and contractors at its facilities in the United States and Canada. That number includes 550 people in the company’s Learjet facility in Wichita.The Montreal-based company disclosed the decision to its workforce an internal memo that says affected employees will be notified in the coming weeks.Bombardier Inc. said it needs to preserve cash amid delays in the CSeries commercial jet and Learjet 85 business jet as well as due to tough market conditions.Company spokeswoman Annie Cossette said Tuesday that the layoffs in Wichita include 200 contractors who left the company in December after their contracts expired and were not renewed. Cossette would not reveal how many of the remaining layoffs involved full-time Bombardier employees or company contractors.

Cossette blames persistently challenging market conditions for light aircraft, saying the layoffs were a difficult decision the company had to make in order to protect its business.The company will meeting with affected employees in the coming weeks.

Cossette says some may transfer to other positions in the company.The layoffs represent 6 percent of the workforce at Bombardier Aerospace, one of the company’s two main divisions. Bombardier is also one of the world’s largest producers of equipment for transit systems.

On Monday, Bombardier also said it received 19 percent fewer new orders for all of its commercial and business aircraft last year than in 2012.